Food Companies Lobby as UN Considers Effects of Marketing

By Marion Nestle

With the United Nations meeting to develop a global response to the obesity-related increase in chronic diseases, the lobbyists are fighting

In what Bloomberg News terms an "epidemic battle," food
companies are doing everything they can to prevent the United Nations
from issuing a statement that says anything about how food marketing
promotes obesity and related chronic diseases.

The U.N. General Assembly is meeting right now in New York to develop a global response
to the obesity-related increase in non-communicable, chronic diseases
(cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes)
now experienced by both rich and poor countries throughout the world.

As the Bloomberg account explains:

Company officials join political leaders and health
groups to come up with a plan to reverse the rising tide of non-
communicable diseases.... On the table
are proposals to fight obesity, cut tobacco and alcohol use, and expand
access to life-saving drugs in an effort to tackle unhealthy diets and
lifestyles that drive three of every five deaths worldwide. At stake for
the makers of snacks, drinks, cigarettes, and drugs is a market with
combined sales of more than $2 trillion worldwide last year.

Commenting on the collaboration of food companies in this effort:

"It's kind of like letting Dracula advise on blood bank
security," said Jorge Alday, associate director of policy with World
Lung Foundation, which lobbies for tobacco control.

The lobbying, to understate the matter, is intense. On one side are
food corporations with a heavy financial stake in selling products in
developing countries. Derek Yach, a senior executive of
PepsiCo, for example, argues in the British Medical Journalthat
it's too simplistic to recommend nutritional changes to reduce chronic
disease risk. (Of course it is, but surely cutting down on fast food,
junk food, and sodas ought to be a good first step?)

On the other side are public health advocates
concerned about conflicts of interest in the World Health
Organization. So is the United Nations' special rapporteur for the
right to food, Olivier De Schutter. Mr. De Schutter writes that the "chance to crack down on bad diets must not be missed."

On the basis of several investigative visits to developing countries, De Schutter calls for "the adoption of a host of initiatives, such as
taxing unhealthy products and regulating harmful food marketing
practices.... Voluntary guidelines are not enough. World leaders must not
bow to industry pressure."

If we are serious about tackling the rise of cancer and
heart disease, we need to make ambitious, binding commitments to tackle
one of the root causes -- the food that we eat.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) 2004 Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health
must be translated into concrete action: it is unacceptable that when
lives are at stake, we go no further than soft, promotional measures
that ultimately rely on consumer choice, without addressing the supply
side of the food chain.

It is crucial for world leaders to counter food industry efforts to
sell unbalanced processed products and ready-to-serve meals too rich in
trans fats and saturated fats, salt, and sugars. Food advertising is
proven to have a strong impact on children, and must be strictly
regulated in order to avoid the development of bad eating habits early
in life.

A comprehensive strategy on combating bad diets should also address
the farm policies which make some types of food more available than
others.... Currently, agricultural policies encourage the production of
grains, rich in carbohydrates but relatively poor in micronutrients, at
the expense of the production of fruits and vegetables.

We need to question how subsidies are targeted and improve access to
markets for the most nutritious foods.... The public health consequences
are dramatic, and they affect disproportionately those with the lowest
incomes.

In 2004, the U.N. caved in
to pressures from food companies and weakened its guidelines and
recommendations. The health situation is worse now and affects people
in developing as well as industrialized countries. Let's hope the
General Assembly puts health above politics this time.